Grant Tracy Newell

Grant Tracy Newell died peacefully at Fieldstone of Olympia, with his son and daughter by his side, May 28, 2025.

Grant was born on June 12, 1931 in Portland, Oregon to parents, Clyde and Theodosia Newell. The family of 8 eventually ended up in Wishkah, Washington where Grant made many life-long friends. He joined the army in 1951 and ended up on the battlefields of Korea before being discharged in 1954. It was then that a good friend set him up on a blind date and he met Marilyn Wickstrom. He often told the story of that meeting, ”She was standing on her front porch and when I saw her, she took my breath away!” They were married, had three children, and were the love of each other’s lives for more than 70 years.

Grant lived a life of service. He became a firefighter for the City of Aberdeen in 1957 and served there until 1983. He was also a volunteer with the Central Park Fire Department for 25 years. On his days off he worked in construction, building quite a few homes in Central Park. After his retirement from firefighting he worked for the Water Department in Central Park, eventually becoming the Water Commissioner. He also had a brief stint at being a Restaurant and Hotel owner when he and his brother Milton bought the Wirta in Aberdeen. They and their wives worked to restore this historic establishment into a popular Aberdeen restaurant while they had it from about 1974 – 1978.

Grant was an avid fisherman and hunter. “Fish on!” was one of his favorite sayings. He had a group of very special friends that enjoyed years of annual hunting and fishing expeditions. When Grant could no longer go out into the woods, he and his son Gary enjoyed “hunting” on drives through the Capital Forest.

Grant will be remembered as a man of integrity, a true “gentleman,” always putting others before himself, being ready with a twinkle in his eye to tease whoever came by, and as a devoted husband, dad, grandpa and friend.

Grant is survived by, 2 of his 3 children; Debbie Burns and her husband Mike, Gary Newell and his wife Cindy, 5 grandsons and their wives; Gary Michael and Sarah, Cole and Angela, Trenton and Katie, Camron and Leah, and Connor and Meghan, as well as 10 great grandchildren; Hadley, Clara, Luna, Zeke, Rudy, Kensey, Hannah, James, Carter, and Willow.